Constant Comfort
by amessoffand0ms
Summary: Instead of the usual hello Sweetie, the Doctor is greeted by the sight of his wife having a nightmare.


Constant Comfort

"Melody Pond, you will come with us. You are to be sterilized, we cannot risk another child like yourself in the universe." Said a Silence, advancing towards River.

"No! I won't let you!" River screamed, running towards it.

Others gathered around her, thrusting their heads towards her. She could smell the stench of their skin. She took a deep breath and ran, shoving her way through the mass of bodies.

"River? My love, wake up, you're having a nightmare." The Doctor said, shaking her awake. He had arrived at Stormcage to see her, but instead of the usual "hello Sweetie" and cheeky grin, he was greeted by the sight of her crying her eyes out and tossing and turning in her sleep.

"Huh?" Her eyes fluttered open, and focused on him. As soon as they did, she burst into tears.

"Oh, sweetheart." He lay down beside her and she curled into him, clinging onto him for dear life.

"The Silence were there, and they, they threatened to..." She sobbed, and then gazed at him. "Where are we?"

"Married." He replied.

"Okay. Have we, well, you know?"

"Yes, why d'you ask?"

"Because that means we're in sync, most likely. The last time for me was our wedding night."

"Ditto." He replied, still slightly confused. "I know that this marriage of ours is wibbly wobbly timey wimey, but what does the last time we had sex, to put it bluntly, have to do with being in sync? It's not always like that."

"Because." She gazed at him, gauging his reaction to her next sentence. "I'm pregnant, six weeks along to be exact."

"I, you're, we're?"

River nodded. "We're going to be parents."

"That's fantastic news!" The Doctor grinned, kissing her.

She smiled weakly. "It's not going to be easy, bringing up a child with timelines like ours."

"I can fix that, perhaps..."

"But..."

"Ah, ah, ah." He placed a finger to her lips. "I've just found out that you're pregnant, I'm not going to leave you again."

"Okay." She decided to drop it, and snuggled into him and shivered slightly. It was chilly in the cold cell, and she was only wearing a tank top and a pair of pyjama shorts.

He soniced the alarm systems with a bang, and stood up. He picked his wife up bridal style, and made his way swiftly into the Tardis before the guards could catch up with them.

The Doctor made his way down the corridors and into the room River would only ever go into if she was upset or wanted to be alone, sometimes both.

It was designed entirely for her maximum comfort-there was a bed with blanket after blanket in one corner, and a fire crackled in another. The walls were Tardis blue, with regeneration gold furniture.

He laid her down on the bed and she snuggled under the corners. He took his shoes off before doing the same.

As before, she clung onto him. The Doctor held his wife close, stroking her cheek gently. "I love you." He whispered, kissing her. "What was your dream about?"

"I love you too, Sweetie. The Silence, they were going to sterilize me, like they did to mum... The baby, they were going to die..."

"Hey." he cupped her face gently. "Nothing is going to happen to our baby, I promise you, my River Song. My beautiful, gorgeous, incredible, wife."

She mirrored his actions. "My gorgeous, handsome, daft husband. My Doctor."

It had been a while since she'd seen this him, the one that truly loved her. Every him loved her, but the older Doctor, her Doctor- her husband, meant the most to her.

The Doctor stroked her back with his free hand. "From now on, I promise that I'll stick around as much as I can."

She gazed up him. "Okay."

He placed a hand on her abdomen. "We're having a baby, River. A child."

Instead of sad tears, happy ones pricked at River's eyes. "I didn't admit it to myself, but I'm overjoyed. Despite everything, I hope that we can make this marriage work, I know we can."

He nodded in agreement. "Me too, my love. Me too."

After a while, River sat up, careful not to disturb her husband, who was dozing.

She got changed into a baggy pyjama top and bottoms, and wrapped her favourite cream dressing gown around herself.

She padded into the central console and set the scanner on herself.

An image of a baby, no bigger than a baked bean appeared on the screen.

Happy tears again welled up in River's eyes- it was the first time she'd seen her unborn child.

She placed a hand on her abdomen. "Hello little one. I'm your mummy." She whispered, tears now streaming down her cheeks. She did a couple of checks, and was pleased to find that the baby was healthy, with a double heartbeat.

River printed a scan photo out and made her way into the kitchen, where she found a tray of two mugs of hot chocolate and some jammy dodgers.

"Thank you, love." She murmured. The Tardis hummed around her in response- she knew exactly how to keep River comfortable and content in little ways.

"Sweetie, wake up." River murmured a few minutes later, placing a gentle kiss to his cheek.

"Hmm?" His eyes fluttered open.

"Hello, my love." She greeted him.

"Hi." He replied, sitting up.

She set the tray on his lap and snuggled up next to him, pulling the scan photo out of her pocket, and handed it to him.

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Is that our baby?"

"That's our baby." River replied, smiling as he placed a hand on her abdomen.

"Hello, baby." He murmured, drawing figure of eights on her skin.

His wife cuddled up to him and put her hand over his. She closed her eyes in contentment, smiling as he talked to their unborn child.

"I'm your daddy. I only found out about you a little while ago, but already I love you so much. Your mummy does too, I know she does. We'd both walk to the end of the universe to keep you safe."

River's eyes opened to see her husband's own filled with tears. "Oh Sweetie, you sentimental idiot."

He placed a kiss to her forehead and held her close. "I love you, so much. And I'm so happy."

"Ditto, Sweetie." She replied, and closed her eyes again.

Soft snores told the Doctor that his wife had fallen asleep. He smiled to himself and pulled the duvet up over her and tucked her in tenderly.

He got undressed himself and snuggled in behind her. In her sleep, River snuggled up to him and he held her close, and fell asleep.


End file.
